Contents

On Metacritic, the album received an aggregate score of 92/100 (indicating "universal acclaim"), and currently ranks sixty-second on that site's list of highest-rated albums.[1]Allmusic called it "Startling, tirelessly powerful, and full of unlimited dimensions, nothing could truly weigh down this debut -- not even a Mercury Prize".[2]Robert Christgau praised the album, giving it an A- and saying that as "Someone who mocked the minimal means of U.K. garage and considered the Streets barely music at all, I was captivated by Dizzee's sound the moment I heard the import".[3]Entertainment Weekly stated, "Combining U.K. garage beats and a distinctly British sensibility, Rascal spits out phrases with the energy and finesse of a championship boxer".[4]The Village Voice stated, "When Dizzee thinks very deeply--worrying about growing up, about those around him who won't grow up, about dying before he grows up--he sounds like, what else can we call it, the real thing".[12]Rolling Stone stated, "If you want a vision of the future of hip-hop and techno, get this record".[9]

NME called it "one of the most assured debut albums of the last five years".[7]Pitchfork Media's Scott Plagenhoef stated, "Dizzee's despairing wail, focused anger, and cutting sonics places him on the front lines in the battle against a stultifying Britain, just as Pete Townshend, Johnny Rotten, and Morrissey have been in the past".[8] Stylus Magazine stated, "Most of Boy in Da Corner's most compelling moments come from this uneasy interaction between irrational youth and ultra-rational mechanized society".[11] PopMatters called it "an album that can be loved as both an achievement and an experience, a document and a revelation; it is simultaneously a problem to be solved and a spectacle to simply witness". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called Dizzee "the most original and exciting artist to emerge from dance music in a decade".[5]Uncut called him the "best rapper this country's ever produced, period.... Next to Dizzee Rascal everybody looks pale, uninteresting and irrelevant". Mojo gave the album 5 out of 5 stars saying it is "brilliantly original".[13]

Boy in da Corner won Dizzee Rascal the 2003 Mercury Prize, becoming the second rapper to win the award.[14] In 2009, it was voted the sixth greatest album of all time by MTV Base.[15] The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The record peaked at number twenty-three on the UK Albums Chart.[16] It has sold over 58,000 units in the U.S.[17] and over 250,000 copies worldwide.[18] The album also reached gold status in the UK selling 260,000 copies.[19]